Transference, Charmed Fanfiction
by lovetowritelots
Summary: The 'Charmed Ones' have their work cut out for them when three new witches who don't even believe in magic begin to develop powers.
1. Chapter 1

Transference

**Piper, Phoebe and Paige have all moved out of the Halliwell Manor to concentrate on their own personal lives. They have been granted a break from demon hunting to allow them to bring up the next generation of 'Charmed Ones' in safety. The underworld has come to an agreement that the three of them will be left alone; as will the corresponding demons that the 'Charmed Ones' were pursuing. Their powers will now be transferred to three new witches who will continue their job, but the transference has not yet taken place. Piper, Phoebe and Paige do not know who the girls will be, or what abilities they will have, as their powers will develop depending on their differing personalities. Now they have to find the three new witches, who will be complete strangers, convince them to stay together, and develop their powers to battle the new rising sect of demons. **

Piper gazed through the window of the café at the people outside: people rushing, strolling, chatting, nothing out of the ordinary there. A frown crossed her face as she sat absorbed in her thoughts.

"It will happen when it happens, just relax," Phoebe reassured Piper, placing a large cup of coffee and a cake in front of her and sitting down to enjoy her own.

"Yes, but it's been a week now…" She raised her voice slightly and looked upwards, as though intending the comment for someone else. "…and I don't think it's too much to ask for things to get a move on!" She turned back to Phoebe. "I realise that I should be grateful but now that I know it is going to happen, I just want it to hurry up so that we can finally get our lives back to some semblance of normality."

Phoebe gave her sister a sympathetic look and reached across the table to squeeze her hand. "It will happen soon… it has to."

"Well what the hell is taking so much time anyway?"

"I guess it's hard to find the right people, it's a big responsibility sis."

"Hello everybody, has the meeting started already?" Piper and Phoebe glanced up to see Paige rushing towards the table.

Piper leant her head on her hand. "It really doesn't make much difference, there's not a lot to discuss."

Paige sat next to Piper with an animated look on her face. "Sure there is, there must be something we can do to get the ball rolling." She looked from Piper to Phoebe enthusiastically.

"Right, and how do you propose we get this ball rolling? Start asking passers by if they have developed any magical powers lately?"

"Ah, come on sis, look there are three girls sitting over there, it could be them." Paige's eyes motioned to a table of young girls over the other side of the room.

Phoebe looked unconvinced. "They look a bit young to be battling demons any time soon."

Paige stood up suddenly. "Well I'm going to get a coffee while you two come up with a plan, want anything?"

Piper looked at her with a sigh. "No, no, we'll be waiting here, waiting being the only thing we can do lately."

Paige turned around to head towards the counter but in her haste she bumped into the person behind her. "Sorry, didn't see you there." The girl smiled and went to walk past her, at which point they did a little dance, each misinterpreting which direction the other wanted to go. The girl gave an awkward laugh and pointed to a seat behind Phoebe to indicate where she wanted to move to. She slid into the seat and Paige walked away to find some coffee.

Piper sighed yet again and fiddled with the spoon on her plate, then a thought hit her and she looked up to Phoebe to speak, but froze at what she saw. There was something unusual about the girl that had sat behind Phoebe. Piper's eyes widened in shock as she saw an orange glow leap from the girl's hair. She did a double take and then realized that the girl was on fire!

Jumping up, she pointed to the girl. "Oh, my God, fire Phoebe, fire!"

Phoebe turned just in time to see a man who was sitting nearby throw the entire contents of a bottle of water in the direction of the girl. While some of the water hit the girl, and seemed to have extinguished the flame, the majority of it missed, drenching the person sitting behind. The woman stood up, water dripping from her clothes onto the table and floor in front of her.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Her icy blue eyes cut into the man's as she threw him a furious look.

He glared back at her. "Well, in case you hadn't noticed, this girl was on fire!"

She looked at the girl with confusion, then crossed her arms as she turned her attention back to the man. "Really, well I don't see any flames leaping from her now, no smoke coming out of her ears!" With that she turned to collect her bag to leave but in three quick strides the man was next to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder to halt her, an infuriated look on his face.

"Hey, I'm telling you she was on fire!"

"Get your hand off me!" she replied angrily, looking down at the offending hand. "And what on earth is that horrendous noise?" She bent her head, covering her ears in pain. The man, however, was not listening to what she was saying now as his attention was firmly fixed on the point at which his hand had met her shoulder; he was looking at her through what can only be described as a watery surface. She went to brush his hand away but came into contact with the surface and was unable to penetrate it.

By this time, Paige had returned to the table, attracted by all the commotion, and she was watching the events with interest.

She leant over and whispered to Piper. "Think you'd better freeze this little lot, looks like the ball has started rolling." Piper shook her hands in the general direction of the incident and the scene froze.

Phoebe jumped up. "Okay, so we may not have a lot of time if they are absorbing our powers. I'd say that she…" Phoebe pointed to the girl who had seemed to be on fire, "definitely has some kind of power, maybe her too and…him?" She looked at the man and then back at Piper with a quizzical expression.

Piper shrugged, "Well, Leo didn't say it was going to be three girls this time, I guess we have found them then. Paige you get them back to the Manor and we'll meet you back there. See if you can find out more from Leo too." Paige placed her hands on the three people and orbed.

"Do you mind telling me what on earth is going on?" The drenched woman paced the lounge, stopping in front of Leo who was standing by the doorway. "And you are?"

"Leo, and you?" He held out his hand to shake hers but she ignored it, moving back towards Paige.

The other girl stepped forward with a grin and shook his hand. "Hi. I'm Phoenix and this is…" She gestured towards the man who had saved her from the fire.

He answered for her. "Gabe." He waved across the room. "Would quite like to know myself how we got here." He lifted a questioning eyebrow but Paige cut in.

"Err, before we go any further, I'm assuming that we've got the right people Leo?"

"Almost. You must be Phillipa, right?" Leo asked.

The woman looked at him suspiciously. "And you know this how?"

Paige interrupted. "What do you mean 'almost' Leo?"

"You seem to have missed one," he replied.

"What! We've got three people here; who have we missed?" Paige asked, running a hand through her hair.

"Payton, she is the third. This guy accidentally got involved," Leo said, gesturing towards Gabe.

"Hey, what do you want with my sister?" Gabe asked suspiciously.

Paige put her hands to her head. "Oh, my God, we need to find her, and quick."

"Okay, time out! I want some serious explanations, and I want them now," Phillipa exclaimed, beginning to pace the room once more.

At that point the front door opened and Piper and Phoebe strolled in. "Have you lost somebody?" Phoebe smiled, pulling another girl through he door. The girl stood in the doorway, looking bewildered. "This is Payton, we _discovered _her not long after you left."

Gabe strode across the room to Payton, grabbing her by the arms and looking her over with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, a bit confused though," she replied.

"You and me both, about that explanation…" Gabe looked towards Leo.

"Shall we all just calm down a bit and take a seat?" Leo suggested.

"I have the feeling that I'm going to need to sit after this," Phillipa said, taking a seat in a chair opposite the sofa, which Gabe, Payton and Phoenix had settled on.

Leo turned to the three girls. "Well, it seems as though you three have officially taken over from these three as …" Leo paused, unsure of how to continue.

Piper intervened impatiently though. "Okay, so you are now witches." A silence settled on the room whilst four faces stared at Piper as if she'd grown a second head. "I know, I know…" Piper went on "…it's a shock, but the sooner you get used to it, the sooner we can get back to our lives, and there's really no point in fighting it; it's your destiny," she finished.

Paige glared at Piper with astonishment. "Well done sis, break it to them gently I should!"

"Hold on," Gabe shook his head as if to clear it, "when you say 'witches', are we talking about pointed hats, black cats and caldrons?" he laughed.

"No actually, that image is so yesteryear," Paige said with a dismissive gesture of her hand. "Nowadays, we pretty much run regular lives… in between vanquishing demons of course," she added.

Gabe rose an eyebrow. "Demons now too. Next you'll be telling me that I'm the Angel Gabriel," he chuckled.

Paige, Piper and Phoebe all glanced at Leo with questioning expressions.

"Ah come on!" Gabe exclaimed, observing their reactions.

"Not as far as I know but… you got to wonder about the name," Leo pondered.

"Do I look like the Angel Gabriel to you?" Gabe said, standing up and holding out his arms. Everyone in the room cast doubtful eyes over his torn jeans, and dark gothic style t shirt, which revealed a bold, abstract tattoo running down the length of one muscular arm.

"He has a point," Piper admitted. "So, what's he doing here then?" she asked Leo.

"Well, apparently he does have powers too. The elders believe that your powers," he turned his attention back to Gabe who had sat back on the sofa next to Payton, "are connected to your relationship with your sister. This happens sometimes if someone with a strong connection to a witch won't let her transcend, then that person absorbs powers with her and becomes her 'Protector'," he explained to the girls, before focusing on Gabe once more. "When this happened to you, the elders made a decision and well… now it's your job to protect all three, at least until a new whitelighter can be found."

"Ahh," Phoebe began, a look of realisation on her face, "so that's what the weird barrier thing was around Phillipa then. What about the fire? Phoenix looked as though her head was burning!"

"To some extent it was. I was told that Phoenix had some sort of relationship with a demon in her previous life…"

Phoebe glanced at Piper and interrupted Leo. "Oh, here we go again!"

Phoenix looked on, fascinated.

"…and he taught her how to manipulate fire, this means that if, or should I say when, a demon throws an energy ball in her direction, it will immediately vanquish the demon that threw it."

"Cool." Phoenix looked impressed.

"That's not all," Leo went on, encouraged by Phoenix's enthusiasm, "you can also sort of teleport."

"Amazing! How do I do that then?" she asked.

"You will see. It should be quite spectacular too."

Phoenix looked enthralled.

"Excuse me, am I the only one here who thinks you have all gone completely mad?" Phillipa looked from Leo to Phoenix and then to the rest of the group with exasperation.

Leo continued. "You had a pain in your ears, right?"

"Yes but…"

"That was your powers developing. You have profoundly developed senses, you will be able to see and hear things happening miles away, but you need to learn how to control your powers, you all do, they aren't fully developed yet," Leo explained.

Payton added. "What about me then? What do I get to do?"

"I'll show you. Here take this." Leo stood up and passed her a candle from off the table in front of them. She took it. "Now concentrate on what you would like it to be." Payton looked uncertain. "Anything you want it to be, just concentrate," he encouraged her. She closed her eyes and jumped in shock when she felt the object change in her hands. She opened her eyes to see that she was holding a flower.

Phoebe laughed. "Hey cute, but I think you're going to need to practise. You won't vanquish many demons with that!"

"You are all going to have to learn to control your powers, and that's just the first step. We have so much to teach you, but for now you need to develop a bond. It was the bond between Piper, Phoebe and Paige that ultimately thwarted the underworld. Spend as much time as you can together before the first demons find out that you are here. And that could be anytime soon," he warned.

"Well, that's all very fascinating, but I really should be getting home now." Phillipa rose off the sofa to leave but was confronted by a unanimous, "No!"

Paige blocked her exit. "You all have to stay here. If you split up, you won't stand a chance. Besides, Gabe here is your 'Protector', and believe me, you will want him around when the action begins."

Phillipa frowned. "But I've got things to do, my own apartment, I can't just move in here!"

Gabe added. "For once, I'm in agreement with her. If it's all the same to you, I'd like to pass on this one. I do actually have a life already, and I've got enough going on dealing with protecting clients without having to run after three air headed girls, sorry sis."

On hearing this Phillipa jumped up, standing in front of Gabe with her hands on her hips, glaring down at him. "Well, if it's all the same to you, I have a life too, and I've got better things to do than to stay here to be insulted by some high handed, arrogant male chauvinist pig like you!"

Phoebe, Piper and Paige all glanced anxiously at each other. Things weren't exactly going to plan!


	2. Chapter 2

In the dark abyss of The Underworld, three upper-level, demon brothers loomed, suspended in their Iscus: a triangulated, reflective, energy field.

"Now is our time to rise and strike; there is no better time, brothers," one demon spoke out.

"We cannot strike until the 'Charmed Ones' have left, Pithius," a second demon warned.

"What? You are still fearful of the sisters, Procell?" Pithius questioned with disbelief. "Their powers have been transferred, the new witches are weak, we must strike now!" he insisted.

"We must wait until they leave; it has been agreed. If we break the vow, we will be banished… imprisoned for eternity," Procell argued.

"Send one of the others before us," Pruflas, the third demon interjected. "We must be cautious. There is no room for foolish mistakes. We must never be seen to fail if we are to become the ultimate power. Send a follower to report back on the new witches," he repeated.

"Let it be done," Pithius concluded.

**xoxoxo xoxoxo oxxooxo xoxoxo xoxoox oxoxoxo xoxoxoo xoxoxoo xoxoxox xoxoxoox xoxoxoo xoxoxoxo**

Phillipa stormed towards the front door of the Halliwell Manor, closely followed by Gabe, with Payton in tow.

Paige was the first to react, orbing ahead of Phillipa and barring her exit from the Manor.

The fact that Phillipa had miraculously found herself in some strangers' house, and that she'd witnesses a candle turn into a flower, had all been pushed to the back of her head and dismissed as some trick of the mind until then. However, even the ever cynical Phillipa was rendered speechlessness when Paige appeared before her in a flash of white light.

"Looks like we'll still have our powers for a while then," Paige pointed out.

"You'll keep them for today to help the girls, then when the transference is complete, their powers will grow in strength," Leo explained.

"What's happening?" Phillipa cut in suddenly, beginning to cough and choke.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked with concern, placing a hand on her arm.

"What _is_ that?" Phillipa replied, cringing and placing a hand over her mouth.

"What's what?" Gabe asked. For some reason he couldn't explain, he suddenly felt extremely edgy. Maybe it was the years he'd spent working as a body guard that were making him overly concerned for a woman who had shown him nothing but hostility so far.

She looked up at him with watering eyes. "You mean you can't smell that awful smell? God, I can even taste it!"

Piper and Phoebe turned to each other, and Piper whispered something to Phoebe.

"What does it smell like?" Leo asked.

"Burning, chemicals, sulphur, it's horrendous!" Phillipa gagged.

Then they appeared: three lower-level, shabby looking demons who didn't appear to impress 'The Charmed Ones', but who scared the living daylights out of Phillipa, Phoenix and Payton with their yellow eyes and echoing voices.

"_Take them!"_ one demon roared, producing and energy ball and hurling it immediately at Phillipa. Gabe acted on impulse, launching himself at Phillipa and throwing his arms around her shoulders. Immediately a watery barrier formed around them. She backed away from him in shock and bewilderment.

Piper tutted and held up one hand, freezing the demons. "I thought our demon vanquishing days were over. Still, you'd have thought they could do better than this lot," she said, crossing her arms and assessing the frozen demons.

Now that the 'demons', as Piper had referred to them, were seemingly powerless, Phillipa squirmed awkwardly against the onslaught of Gabe and tried to untangle herself from his arms.

"Do you mind?" she said, finally prising his hands off her, "that's the second time you've manhandled me today!"

He huffed, looking her up and down. "You should be thanking me lady; I just saved your ass!" He'd never met a woman who was so uptight, with her slick business suit, straight, shiny, scraped back hair and reading glasses. God, she probably wouldn't look half bad if she didn't dress like a damn school teacher! How ironic, she was supposed to have profoundly developed senses; sensual she was not!

"Right, come on," Paige said, clapping her hands and jumping into action to distract from the tension between Gabe and Phillipa, "this will be good practise for you three. So, what you gonna do?" She looked from Phoenix, to Payton and back to Phillipa, who was still scowling at Gabe. "Gotta be quicker than that," she warned, "or you'll all be demon toast!"

Surprisingly, Gabe was the first one of them to speak. "What did I tell you sis?" he said, moving towards one of the demons, "Go for the pressure points. Throat," he said, jabbing two fingers at the demon's throat, "temple, and eyes," he added, making a mock attack.

Piper sighed. "You may be trained to defend yourself against criminals but these are demons we're talking about here. They don't have pressure points, just fire and brimstone."

Phoenix shook her head then as she came out of shock and her mind began to focus. "But those fire balls can't hurt me, right?" she spoke up. "It's gonna kill them if they throw them at me."

"Vanquish," Phoebe corrected, "but yes, that's going to help a lot."

"Okay, okay," Piper cut in, "but you don't have time to stand around chatting; do something before these guys unfreeze."

Phoenix began to sprint across the room, towards Phillipa and the energy ball, dodging chairs and the coffee table along the way.

"Wait," Piper said, halting Phoenix, "way too slow. Phillipa would be demon fodder by now."

Phoenix cringed, feeling like she'd failed miserably.

"Think," Phoebe cut in. "You have to be inventive with your powers. Use them in any and every way you can."

"Okay, Leo said I can teleport," Phoenix pointed out. "So how do I do that… and quickly?" she asked.

"You've got to use your powers," Phoebe repeated.

Phoenix closed her eyes and tensed her whole body, trying to make something happen.

"It doesn't quite work like that," Paige said, trying not to laugh. "You have to relax more than anything, and you must believe you can do it, believe in your powers."

Phoenix took in a deep breath and relaxed her body this time, however, still nothing happened.

She opened one eye. "Am I doing this right?"

"You don't honestly believe that you're going to teleport do you?" Phillipa laughed.

"Sssh," Phoebe cut in, holding a hand up to Phillipa, whilst encouraging Phoenix. "Bring together all your emotions," she said softly, taking hold of Phoenix's arms as if to give her strength. "The fear you felt today, the confusion, the excitement. Focus on them; let them take over your body," she stressed.

As Phoebe spoke, Phoenix seemed to fall into some kind of trance, whilst focusing her newly forming powers.

Then it happened again, as it had done in the café: a small flame leapt from her shiny, auburn hair. Payton's and Phillipa's faces showed signs of panic, but Phoebe continued to reassure Phoenix, and the others.

"Don't resist it; channel that power," she urged. "It won't hurt you. It can only make you stronger."

The fire really began to grow then, leaping from Phoenix's hands, legs, shoulders and arms, until her whole body was aflame. Phillipa, Payton and Gabe watched in horror, and even the 'Charmed Ones' were slightly anxious about watching Phoenix burst into violent flames.

Then, she suddenly opened her eyes and began to scream in panic. There was a great roaring and whooshing sound which filled the room as the fire raged on.

"It's going to be okay!" Phoebe shouted, glancing nervously at Piper as if she wasn't completely certain that she believed in her own words.

Then, without warning, Phoenix seemed to disappear within the flames, before they lost their strength and sunk into the floor, leaving only a sprinkling of ash and dust. The room fell utterly silent, with everyone staring at the pile of dust in shock.

"Ooops," Phoebe said eventually.

"Ooops!" Phillipa repeated in disbelief, "is that all you can say? I mean, okay, I don't really know that girl but she's just been burnt alive in front of us!"

Then, to make matters worse, the three demons began to unfreeze.

Piper sighed and froze them again.

"Wait, look," Paige said, pointing to the pile of ash and dust, which was beginning to glow bright orange. Gradually a flame leapt up again from the pile, forming a round ball. The ball morphed, changing shape and growing until it was possible to make out a long thin body and a small pointed head. Seconds later, with a bright flash, two magnificent wings shot out of the body and the fiery shape of a bird swooped above them. It circled twice, before finally settling between Phillipa and the demon, at which point, the wings slowly lowered and the flames died, revealing an unharmed and extremely pleased looking Phoenix.

Piper reacted quickly, waving her hand to unfreeze the demon and, as the energy ball hit Phoenix, the demon began to squirm and cry out in agony, finally disappearing from the room completely.

"Wow, impressive," Paige said, patting Phoenix on the back. "Kinda makes orbing look a bit boring in comparison."

Phoenix looked extremely pleased with herself. "Thanks."

Piper looked deep in thought. "Do you think you could do that quicker?" she asked Phoenix, "Quite a lot quicker actually."

"Sure," she replied, now full of confidence in her new powers. "Just need to get the ignition going quicker and then practise my take off," she chuckled, imitating a bird in flight with her hand, "then, whoosh, straight into landing, ready to rebuff the fire balls," she finished with a flourish.

"Energy balls," Phoebe corrected.

"Oh yeah, energy balls," she amended.

Even Piper had to nod in approval of Phoenix at that point. She was impressive, learnt quickly and certainly showed promise, probably because of her enthusiasm. She wasn't so certain about the other two though, particularly Phillipa; she seemed so cynical.

"Right, Payton, what shall we do about him?" Piper said, strolling up to one of the two remaining demons.

Payton looked a little startled and uncomfortable with being thrown into the limelight.

"Hey, you have limitless options," Phoebe reassured her, "remember, you can turn any object into anything you want."

"What's going to kill them?" she asked.

"Energy balls," Piper answered, "And potions, but we're going to have to leave potions till tomorrow; Wyatt and Chris have been with Dad all day now," she pointed out, glancing at Leo.

"They'll be okay for a while longer, until these two have been dealt with anyway," Leo said, gesturing towards the remaining demons.

Payton had been wracking her brains to come up with something to impress everyone as much as Phoenix had, but she finally had to settle on the only vaguely good idea she could think of. Walking up to the coffee table, she grabbed one of the oranges from a crystal bowl, which was placed in the centre, and held it firmly in her hand whilst closing her eyes. To her amazement, it worked, and she dropped the object when she felt her hand begin to heat up. Opening her eyes, she saw it hovering in mid air in front of her. She'd managed to transform an orange into an energy ball!

"Good," Leo encouraged.

"But there's one slight problem with that," Paige cut in. "You can't move the energy ball towards the demon."

"Yeah," Phoebe interjected, "in fact, the demon is probably more likely to use your own energy ball against you," she pointed out.

Payton's face fell and she grabbed the energy ball, turning it back into an orange and dropping it into the bowl again.

"What now?" she asked, feeling slightly downhearted.

"I've got an idea," Phoebe smiled, "I'll be right back," she said, disappearing from the room. She came back minutes later with a broom in hand. Payton wondered what on earth Phoebe had in mind. Phoebe approached Payton, picked up the orange again, and handed it to her, together with the broom. "Here, now you have a demon to move the energy ball for you," she grinned.

"You think it will work like that?" Paige asked.

"Only one way to find out," Phoebe replied, "Now focus on him," she said to Payton, turning her to face the demon.

Payton stared at the demon, taking in as many details as she could, before closing her eyes again and concentrating on the orange and broom in her hands. Seconds later, she could feel the objects changing. Everyone cheered and she opened her eyes once more in amazement to see the demon she had conjured from a broom holding the energy ball which had once been an orange.

"Okay Piper," Phoebe called out to her.

Piper unfroze the second demon, and the conjured demon proceeded to hurl the energy ball at him. His last words were angry curses and then he was vanquished.

Everyone applauded and Payton felt relieved to have lived up to everyone's expectations. She reached out to the conjured demon and touched him, turning him back into a broom.

"Don't want any more of these than necessary," she said, with a nervous laugh.

"Great," Piper enthused. "So, now you all just need to practise," she said, glancing at her watch and wondering how much candy Victor had fed Wyatt and Chris by that time.

"Err, hold on a second," Phillipa spoke up, "What about him?" She pointed to the last demon. "And what if more of them come back?" she asked, "I think you're better at this than us. So… I'll be leaving you to it," she concluded, heading for the door again.

Paige blocked her way once more. "No can do," she said, "been hearing jingles in my head all afternoon now. Am needed elsewhere."

"But…" Phillipa began to protest but was interrupted by Phoebe.

"Do we vanquish him or send him back?" she asked.

"If we vanquish them all, they will think they are stronger than they are and come back with twice the number of reinforcements," Paige commented.

"Maybe, or it might put them off for a while, which would give us more time," Piper pointed out.

Phoebe gave it some thought. "Or… or, if we sent him back and let him know that we still have our powers, we could almost guarantee that will hold them off for a while."

"That's true," Paige agreed, " and it's not as if he's seen anything he can report back on; he's been frozen this whole time," she added.

"Okay." Piper made a quick decision, "We let him go, and then we've got to go home," she said, unfreezing only the demon's head with a small flick of her finger. The demon growled with anger. "Listen to me dirt bag," Piper said, moving her face up to his threateningly. "We're going to let you go so you can give your boss a message from us: the 'Charmed Ones' still have their powers for now, and now there are three more witches in the Manor, so if you thought the power of three was bad, just imagine what the power of six could do!" And with that she unfroze the rest of him. He glared angrily at her but shimmered immediately afterwards.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as the demon had shimmered, Piper, Phoebe and Paige sprang into action. Phoebe and Paige dashed upstairs, and Piper pulled Leo to one side to talk to him, leaving the other three girls and Gabe standing in the lounge, watching the commotion with bewilderment.

Phillipa needed to decide what to do next; she needed control back and she needed to work out what the hell was going on! She glanced towards Gabe. He was, to be fair, the only one who seemed to want to get out of this crazy house. At least they had that in common. She edged towards him, whispering,

"Do they seriously expect us to just move in here together? Drop our lives and just do…" she wasn't quite sure what they were expected to do, apart from avoid being fried by demons armed with fire balls, "whatever," she finished vaguely.

"It doesn't matter; they have us stuck in a no win thing here," he replied. "Can't risk leaving Pattie alone, even in her own apartment, because those 'demon' guys were real." He noticed her cynical frown. "Are you telling me they weren't here? You didn't feel in the slightest bit threatened by them?"

"Well, yes but.."

"Exactly, so we may as well all stick together here as anywhere," he reasoned. Phillipa tutted. "What? You want us all to go to your place?" he asked, knowing that would be the last thing she wanted.

"Well no, but how long do you think we'll have to stay here for?"

Gabe didn't get a chance to answer that question before Phoebe and Paige came running back down the stairs. Phoebe immediately began to place crystals around the downstairs rooms, whilst Paige approached the lounge with the new 'Book of Shadows'.

"Take a seat everyone. There are just a few things we need to run through before we leave for the night…but don't worry, we'll be back tomorrow to make sure you're okay," she assured them after taking a look at Payton's nervous expression.

"Yes, and see the crystals Phoebe is placing around the house," Piper said, pointing to a few in the hallway, "they will protect you from more demons for tonight…well, for many other nights too I guess," she added, then regretted it. The girls looked extremely apprehensive; the last thing she wanted to do was to worry them more and have them all running out of the Manor in terror! She felt a sudden pang of sympathy for them. They had no clue what they had been roped into. Still, once they got used to the idea, they would settle down. They just needed to learn how to juggle demon vanquishing with their every day lives.

"That should be enough," Phoebe concluded, re-entering the lounge, "one demon alarm is now set. Hey, don't worry," she said, sitting on the sofa arm and placing a comforting hand over Payton's, "I really don't think any more will come back tonight anyway, not after Piper's warning." Her eyes widened as if in mock terror, "Boy was she scary," she laughed.

Phoenix and Payton chuckled.

"And also," Leo added, "if by chance demons do reappear tonight, The Elders have opened a telepathic link between you four, me and Paige for the night, so all you have to do is call us, and we'll be here in a flash."

"…or orb" Paige corrected Leo with a laugh, "well, quickly anyway," she finished.

"Right, so what should we expect from those crystals then?" Phillipa asked, eyeing the huge book which Paige had placed on the coffee table in front of them. She had the feeling that they were rushing this whole process and, not that she was going to stay there that night anyway, but Phillipa was a 'just in case' kind of person, so there was no way she was letting them go until she was clear on all the details.

"Okay, if any source of evil comes near the crystals, you will hear them err, kind of ring," Phoebe explained. "And you can also trap a demon in a crystal cage which is formed by surrounding them by crystals."

Phillipa nodded, making a mental note of that. "And the book?" she questioned eyeing the book on the coffee table.

"This is your 'Book of Shadows'," Leo said, "The elders sent it down with me to give to you."

"Yes, the 'Book of Shadows' contains spells, incantations and information on all the demons of your ancestors. It's absolutely indispensible to you," Phoebe explained wistfully, but then she frowned and amended, "or at least it will be," she said, opening the book and flicking through the empty pages.

The girls leant over to see that all of the pages were blank.

"Great, that's going to be a lot of help," Phillipa said sarcastically, "particularly considering that A, none of our relatives, or mine at least, were witches, and B, none of us three are related anyway."

"Hmm," Phoebe responded thoughtfully. "We wondered about that."

"Who knows," Piper cut in, "maybe you are."

The three girls looked at each other in puzzlement.

"No, that's impossible," Phillipa spoke out.

"Or maybe you were," Paige suggested. The three 'Charmed Ones' all gave each other a knowing look.

"Were?" Phillipa questioned. She dreaded to hear the answer.

"Yes, in your previous lives," Paige answered, quickly moving on when Phillipa put her head in her hands. Whatever next? She couldn't cope, it was information overload! "All we know, is that there must be some kind of connection between you all, but at the moment, you are oblivious to it, and that is why this has happened," she said, closing the 'Book of Shadows' and pointing to the divided Triquetra on the front. "This means that you have no bond yet; you need to find it," she urged, handing the book over.

"And on that note," Piper said, grabbing Leo's hand, "We will leave you all to get busy with the 'bonding' process. The kids are going to be crawling up the walls by now," she said to Paige.

"Probably, and I've got a charge to go check on, and I haven't even so much as said 'hi' to Henry today," Paige said, jumping off the sofa, followed by Phoebe and the others, who stood up with them.

"Oooh yes," Phoebe said excitedly, "and Coop's got a romantic meal for two planned."

Piper, Paige and Phoebe rushed into the hallway, followed by the anxious new 'Charmed Ones', Leo and Gabe.

When Piper reached the front door, she stopped suddenly and turned. "Oops, I almost forgot, there are new bed sheets upstairs, and the refrigerator is full," she informed them.

"You've even got some wine chilling in there," Phoebe winked, following Piper and Paige out into the porchway.

Piper glared at her. "Hmm, they should go easy on the wine though, they need their wits about them, remember?"

Phoebe's expression became more serious. "Oh yes, of course."

"Remember, just call out if you need help," Leo reminded them, "And smile," he added, noting their solemn faces.

"You're the new, most powerful and important witches on earth, you should be excited," Phoebe enthused.

"Yes, just remember, humanity is relying on you," Piper said, disappearing down the steps.

Phoebe frowned after her, turning to the girls again to lighten the mood. "Few glasses of wine never hurt anyone, helps with the 'bonding ' process too," she whispered to them. "See you tomorrow," she called, waving back at them as she descended the steps.

"Great!" Phillipa said, turning to the others and closing the door behind her. "This morning I woke up with only the responsibilities of being chair of a corporation; now I'm responsible for the whole of humanity!"

"We," Gabe stressed, "we are responsible. You're not the only person involved in all of this you know, miss high and mighty business corporate," he mocked.

She put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me but I've worked hard to get to where I am today."

"And I haven't?" he countered.

"I wasn't saying that," she began, but gave up with frustration. "I can't do this now," she growled, "I need some air." And with that she was at the door in three quick strides and outside in seconds.

The moment he registered her moving towards the door, Gabe felt that terrible nervousness again, and it was only seconds later that he heard the crystals ringing. Then he saw a flash of orange light up the darkness outside and he knew that Phillipa was is massive danger, he could feel it. With all he was worth, he dived for her, catching her by the shoulders and pulling her backwards into the safety of the house. The energy ball however ricocheted off the far wall and seemed to be heading back towards them. Gabe rolled over Phillipa, shielding her from the ball but watching with relief as it flew over them and disappeared outside. He reached backwards with one foot and slammed the front door shut.

The house fell silent for the next few minutes as everyone froze, waiting to see if another attack was imminent.

"Maybe they won't come past the crystals," Phoenix said finally, after there were no more signs of any demons about to pounce. "Are you two okay?" she asked, watching for signs of life from Phillipa or Gabe on the floor.

Phillipa registered no movement from Gabe so she turned her head sideways to see what was happening. Unfortunately though, all she could see at startlingly close quarters, was Gabe's face staring down at her. She vaguely registered him telling the girls that they weren't hurt, but it was as if time was suddenly slowing down. She wasn't sure if it was her powers working or not, but she seemed to be taking in every tiny detail of his face all at once. Although she'd seen his eyes fiery with temper before, at that moment, his chocolate coloured gaze was soft and beguiling, even a little vulnerable. She hadn't expected that. In fact, this man was difficult for Phillipa to fathom out, and she was usually good at that; it was part of her job. The angles of his face were hard and tough, his nose jutting out sharply, his jaw square. The thick hair on his head was as untamed as the man himself, and yet it was his unruliness that gave him a rugged sort of appeal. He smiled slowly at her and she noticed the tiny lines around his eyes appear as his expression lightened. Then he lifted one hand and removed her reading glasses to reveal her eyes. It seemed to be an unnervingly intimate gesture for a stranger to make, particularly at such close quarters.

"What are you doing?" she frowned.

"Come on," he said, holding up the glasses to look at them with amusement. "You don't need these, surely."

As a matter of fact, she didn't; she wore them to enhance her business image. She always felt that they gave her more authority in a male dominated environment.

"Of course I do," she lied, reaching out for the glasses, "Why else would I wear them?"

"Hmm," he responded thoughtfully, assessing her, "my question exactly, why would a woman with profoundly developed senses wear a pair of these?" he said, dangling them just out of her reach.

She tutted. "It was only today that I was blessed with extra sensory powers," she said with some sarcasm, "to save the world, remember?"

"Hmm, well, you certainly won't need them now then, will you?" he replied.

She paused, trapped, unable to hide behind her image. She felt exposed and out of control, not for the first time that day either. No comeback sprang to mind, and suddenly she felt unbearably strung with tension as he simply searched her eyes.

He wasn't sure if it was something to do with her powers, or the fact that she was now a witch, but there was something almost hypnotic about her eyes. They glittered, the deepest, yet brightest, green, with a hint of teal, like peacock feathers.

"You have a witch's eyes," he said softly, without even intending to speak at all.

Then it began. It started as an acute awareness of Gabe's hands, arms, legs and torso pressed against her, but then the sensations intensified. She began to tingle all over and soon it seemed as if every nerve ending in her body was alive, too alive! Her skin burned with heat and Gabe's eyes widened slightly with surprise.

"Move off me," she said in panic, "Something's happening."

But Gabe was in a trance like state, staring into her eyes, unable to move. Suddenly, it felt as if he was melting into her and she was helpless to stop the intense quivering and tingling sensations his contact was creating.

"Get him off me," she called out to Phoenix and Payton.

His eyes continued their searching, and her body continued it's tingling and glowing, until finally, two pairs of hands prised Gabe away from her and at last she was free.

Gabe found himself suddenly upright, stumbling backwards slightly, while Phoenix and Payton were helping Phillipa up off the floor.

She stood and breathlessly made a pretence out of brushing her clothes off, avoiding Gabe's eyes with everything she had.

Gabe looked equally uncomfortable. "Looks like your senses are developing or something," he said, by way of an explanation.

Phillipa gave a small awkward sounding cough and moved towards the kitchen.

"I need a glass of water," she said, making a hasty exit.


	4. Chapter 4

Phillipa found a glass in one of the kitchen cupboards, filled it with water and took a gulp, before leaning over the counter top to regain her composure and clear her head. What on earth had happened to her? The whole situation was so humiliating: being in a room full of strangers, strangers whom she now had to possibly share a house with, and totally losing control. She never lost control; in business circles they called her the 'Woman of Steel', but how could she be strong when she didn't even have control over her own body anymore? She had no idea what it was going to do next and, if she was honest with herself, that frightened her. In fact, the whole demon, sharing with strangers, and having magical powers thing frightened her, more than she dared admit to herself.

Gabe's eyes flicked time and time again towards the kitchen, in between his constant pacing of the sitting room.

"Hey, you don't think that witches really can bewitch people do you?" he asked Phoenix and Payton suddenly.

Phoenix was busy at the window, peeping behind the curtains to see if the demons had gone. She stopped though momentarily and turned briefly to glance at Payton, who shrugged her shoulders.

"What?" she asked Gabe, not entirely sure where that question came from.

"Ah nothing," he sighed, running a hand through his hair and finally heading towards the kitchen, saying over his shoulder, "gonna see if she's alright. If I don't come back in a few minutes, come rescue me. Women," he said to himself, tutting.

"Hey, we heard that!" Phoenix called back. "You're going to be outnumbered in this house remember so you'd better change your attitude," she teased, laughing with Payton.

Phillipa heard a small knock and turned around to see Gabe in the kitchen doorway.

"You okay?" he asked.

She forced a smile. "Yes, I'm fine now thanks," she replied with a show of confidence, finishing off the water and placing the glass back on the counter. "Are you okay?" she asked after a short silence.

"Sure, I'm fine," he nodded.

She nodded. There was another short silence.

"Are they alright?" she asked, cringing inwardly. My God, why was this so awkward? She much preferred it when they had shouted and argued; she was more used to handling that kind of situation. But his show of concern and the awful politeness… she had no idea how to deal with it.

"Yes, they're alright," he replied, quickly moving on before he lost his nerve; he had to clear the air. "Look, I'm sorry and all, about in there," he made a head gesture towards the sitting room. "I didn't mean to hurt you…it's just…" he trailed off.

"You didn't hurt me. It was…" God, she was as bad as him: suddenly incapable of coherent speech. She struggled to find a way to explain it without feeling excruciatingly embarrassed. "My powers," she finally had to opt for, laughing and looking to the ceiling. "How ridiculous that sounds!"

He laughed with her, easing some of the tension.

"Yeah, it beats me," he said, moving across the room and leaning back against the kitchen counter next to her.

"It's official; I'm a witch!" she exclaimed with disbelief, throwing her arms in the air.

He laughed again and glanced sideways at her. "If it's any consolation, I wouldn't imagine a witch to look like you."

"You said I had a witch's eyes," she commented, staring at the kitchen table in front of her, not quite wanting to meet his gaze at that moment. What had he meant? She wasn't sure she wanted to be associated with a witch at all.

Suddenly the tension was back and he was glad that she hadn't turned to him then. "I did?" he replied, feigning innocence. In truth, he wasn't sure why he'd said that. He hadn't meant to. "I didn't mean that in a bad way," he assured her. "I guess, your senses were…doing…well, you know, working overtime and…" God, why did he start this? "Well, maybe that affects your eyes, who knows," he finished, mortified at how lame he sounded. He went on, trying to rescue the situation, but he only ended up babbling instead. "I was thinking, we don't use our powers all the time. I mean, I could touch you…" Damn, why had he said that? "and the protective barrier thing, whatever you call it, wouldn't appear every time, just as Pattie doesn't change everything she touches into flowers and demons, right?" He risked a furtive glance at her. She was watching him, those green eyes flitting disconcertingly over his face with amusement. Was he making any sense at all?

"Right," she smiled, trying not to laugh. He was actually making her feel so much better. He was clearly even more edgy than her!

"Well, you… we," he corrected, not wanting to focus only on what had happened to her out there, "all need to just control it, work out what we can do, what we can't, and when we can stop it. And then, if, or when, another one of those demon guys comes after you, you can quit with the 'eye' hypnotic thing, and I can make the barrier thing happen, and everyone's happy, right?" he said all in one breath.

As she listened to him, something suddenly occurred to Phillipa. He was so focused on something that had apparently happened to her eyes, that he didn't seem aware of what had happened to the rest of her. He was right about one thing though: she needed to figure out her powers because her sense of touch was going to be a big problem for her everyday life if she couldn't control it.

She laughed. "Goodness, you figured all that out in such a short time?" she teased.

She was making fun of him, great! "Hey look lady, I was just trying to stop any more embarrassment for you," he replied defensively.

"Me?" Now that was better. She could stand her ground much better with them both angry at each other. She put her hands on her hips. "Can I help it if you keep grabbing me all the time? You need to keep your hands to yourself!"

Gabe started pacing again. "If I had, you'd be Demon toast by now, lady," he replied, quoting Paige, "And not for the first time either!" he stressed, pointing a finger at her.

"Oh that's right, Mr big, hard, tough, bodyguard comes to the rescue. But answer me this Gabe, why didn't you let me up straight away?" She was pushing the boundaries with that one and she knew it, but there was no way she was letting him get the better of her.

Gabe's heart jolted nervously. Why, he wasn't sure. He'd done nothing wrong. "It was you," he came back in self defence.

"Me? How do you work that one out?"

"You bewitched me," he said on impulse.

She threw her head back and laughed loudly. "You're kidding me. I bewitched you did I?" she said with amusement.

"Yes, yes you did. For all I know, it's some kind of scheme you've got going on," he answered, standing his ground.

She barely held back the laughter. "Scheme? And what scheme is that then Gabe?"

He was beginning to see the funny side himself now, but he wasn't going to let her know that.

"To lure men," he replied, unable to hide the slight evidence of a smile on his face.

"Oh right," she chuckled. "No, Gabe, if I wanted a man, I'd get one. I don't need to bewitch men into my bed."

The amusement was now clear on his face. "And how would you get him there then Pippa?" he asked, shortening her name. "With your good manners and charm?" he teased.

"My name is Phillipa, and I can be charming when I chose to be," she came back.

He leant towards her and whispered, "Well I'd love to see it, Pippa," he added for good measure.

"Well, miracles have been known to happen, one day maybe you will," she whispered back.

Then Phoenix startled them both and they jumped away from each other guiltily.

"How much longer do you two intend to be in here?" Phoenix asked, popping her head around the door. "You've been almost an hour already."

They both frowned, and looked at their watches in disbelief.

"Pass us that bottle of wine will you, and some glasses? Are you coming?" Phoenix asked, gesturing to the sitting room.


End file.
